His heart was cloven; and full oft he prayed, 1230 To force the Bondsman from his house and lands, 1235 Of his unmurmuring and considerate mind -The desolate Father raised his head, and looked Whereby a virtuous Woman, of grave years 1245 -Nor did she fail, in nothing did she fail, 1250 Trained early to participate that zeal Of industry, which runs before the day And lingers after it; by strong restraint Of an economy which did not check 1255 The heart's more generous motions tow'rds themselves And troubles that beset their life: and thus 1260 Have all been scattered wide, by various fates; 1265 But each departed from the native Vale, In beauty flourishing, and moral worth." Book Seventh THE CHURCH-YARD AMONG THE MOUNTAINSContinued ARGUMENT Impression of these Narratives upon the Author's mind—Pastor invited to give account of certain Graves that lie apartClergyman and his Family-Fortunate influence of change of situation Activity in extreme old age-Another Clergyman, a character of resolute Virtue-Lamentations over mis-directed applause-Instance of less exalted excellence in a deaf man-Elevated character of a blind man—. -Reflection upon Blindness—Interrupted by a Peasant who passes—his animal cheerfulness and careless vivacity-He occasions a digression on the fall of beautiful and interesting Trees—A female Infant's Grave-Joy at her Birth-Sorrow at her Departure-A youthful Peasant—his patriotic enthusiasm and distinguished qualities—his1 untimely death—Exultation of the Wanderer, as a patriot, in this Picture-Solitary how affected-Monument of a Knight-Traditions concerning him-Peroration of the Wanderer on the transitoriness of things and the revolutions of society-Hints at his own past Calling-Thanks the Pastor, WHILE thus from theme to theme the Historian passed, 1 1836. his patriotic enthusiasm—distinguished qualities—and 5 Lay beautiful on Snowdon's sovereign brow,1 A wandering Youth, I listened with delight To pastoral melody or warlike air,* Drawn from the chords of the ancient British harp By some accomplished Master, while he sate And there did inexhaustibly dispense Strains of power Of memory, images and precious thoughts, "These grassy heaps lie amicably close," IO 15 20 25 30 35 * In the end of May and in June 1791, Wordsworth went with his friend Jones on a pedestrian tour in Wales. -ED. Unsociably sequestered, and encroaching 1 On the smooth play-ground of the village-school ? "* The Vicar answered,- "No disdainful pride In them who rest beneath, nor any course Of strange or tragic accident, hath helped To place those hillocks in that lonely guise. -Once more look forth, and follow with your sight The length of road that 2 from yon mountain's base Through bare enclosures stretches, 'till its line Is lost within 3 a little tuft of trees; † Then, reappearing in a moment, quits The cultured fields; and up the heathy waste, Mounts, as you see, in mazes serpentine, Led towards an easy outlet of the vale. ‡ That little shady spot, that sylvan tuft, By which the road is hidden, also hides A cottage from our view; though I discern. (Ye scarcely can) amid its sheltering trees The smokeless chimney-top. 40 45 50 Note the exactness of the reference to the "playground of the villageschool." It is described as "smooth" because it had no graves in it at that time. "The school," writes Dr. Cradock, "was then, and long afterwards, held at the house abutting the Lichgate, and the children had no playground but the churchyard. The portion of the ground nearest the school was not used for burial, until the want of room made it necessary to encroach on it. The oldest tombstone bears the date of 1777."-ED. This "tuft of trees" is still standing (1896).-ED. The road "up the heathy waste," and mounting "in mazes serpentine," is the Keswick road over Dunmail Raise, the "easy outlet of the vale."-ED. "All unembowered And naked stood that lowly Parsonage (For such in truth it is, and appertains 55 To a small Chapel in the vale beyond) Rough and forbidding were the choicest roads By which our northern wilds could then be crossed; 60 And into most of these secluded vales 1 Was no access for wain, heavy or light. So, at his dwelling-place the Priest arrived With store of household goods, in panniers slung 65 70 Their bonnets, I remember, wreathed with flowers, 75 Which told it was the pleasant month of June; * The cottage in which the parson of Wytheburn then lived still stands on the right or eastern side of the road, as you ascend the Raise, beyond the Swan Inn. It abuts on the public road about three hundred yards beyond the bridge over Tongue Ghyll beck. "The Clergyman and his family described at the beginning of the seventh book were, during many years, our principal associates in the vale of Grasmere, unless I were to except our very nearest neighbours. ... With the single exception of the particulars of their journey to Grasmere-which, however, was exactly copied from real life in another instance-the whole that I have said of them is as faithful to the truth as words can make it." (I. F.)-ED. |